On the beach not far away, a pile of firewood was stacked up. The Qin family members were tied up and thrown on the firewood. The cries that came from afar startled Su Xiaoning.
Su Xiaoning weighed the options in her mind and was about to go to the beach to check the situation when she heard the door open with a "bang," and Su Qingcai was standing in the doorway glaring at her.
"What, you dare to hit me but not come in?"
He had heard Su Xiaoning's movements outside the door a long time ago, and thought she would come in to apologize to him, but he didn't expect that she would not say a word even after waiting for so long!
Seeing Su Qingcai's slightly swollen cheek, Su Xiaoning smiled awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I only attacked you because I misunderstood you. Now that I know the truth, I've come to apologize to you."
She presented the fish balls in her hand to Su Qingcai like a treasure, a fawning smile on her face, "My cooking skills are extraordinary, you must try these fish balls..."
Su Qingcai snorted coldly and didn't say a word, but obediently took the fish ball from her hand.
I took a bite, and it was fresh, fragrant, tender, and delicious.
Su Qingcai's mood improved, and his furrowed brows relaxed considerably. He silently ate the fish ball in his hand, and Su Xiaoning breathed a sigh of relief.
The two remained silent, with only the aroma of fish balls lingering in the air.
Before long, Aunt Xu hurried over, carrying a large stack of firewood. She called out to Su Xiaoning, "Little girl, take some firewood over too. Today, we're going to rid Carp Village of that damned Qin family!"
It seemed that the villagers of Carp Village were serious. Su Xiaoning thought about going to check on the situation, so she agreed and carried a stack of firewood with Aunt Xu to the beach.
Su Qingcai frowned, put down the few fish balls left in her hand, and followed after them.
...
On the beach, Qin Yunyun was crying her eyes out, and her brother and father were also in a sorry state.
"You lowly people, burning me, the Fish God, to death will bring down your punishment! Let me go!"
Qin Yunyun struggled and cried on the pile of firewood. Now that she had lost the carp mark, all the things the Qin family had done had been exposed. Who would listen to the words of a stray dog?
The villagers piled up firewood, and some had even lit torches.
In the firelight, the villagers' angry faces looked particularly terrifying.
"Father, Father! Save me, I don't want to die!" Qin Yunyun cried out in despair. She struggled to move to Qin Sang's side, and her shrill cries gave Qin Sang a headache.
Before Qin Sang could speak, the villagers came over, torches in hand, their angry shouts even drowning out Qin Yunyun's.
"Your Qin family has committed countless evil deeds in Carp Village, causing the deaths of many villagers for your own selfish gain! Today, we will make you pay with your lives!"
The villagers shouted and cursed, making a move to set fire to the firewood beneath the Qin family members. Qin Yunyun was terrified, her face pale, unable to utter a single word as she sobbed. Qin Sang trembled all over, and just as the torch was about to touch the firewood, a wave of sorrow washed over him, and he cried out.
"Stop! Don't burn us to death! I admit that the Qin family took fish from the Moon Pond to sell, but if we die now, you will never be able to make up for your losses! If you are willing to let us go, the Qin family is willing to donate all its money and food! We just beg you to spare our lives!"
In this critical moment, even a miser like Qin Sang couldn't care less about anything else; he only wanted to give away all his family's wealth to save his own life.
Upon hearing this, the angry villagers paused in their actions, exchanged bewildered glances, and hesitantly asked, "Is what you're saying true?"
"Of course it's true!" Qin Sang nodded vigorously. "I, Qin Sang, hereby guarantee that as long as you spare our lives, I am willing to donate all the money and grain of the Qin family. This is my guarantee!"
These were indeed very tempting conditions. After thinking for a moment, Su Xiaoning stepped forward and said to the villagers:
"Brothers and sisters-in-law, the Qin family is bullying us in Carp Village. We don't know how much they've taken advantage of us. If we just burn them to death like this, wouldn't that be letting them off easy? Let's make the Qin family donate their money and grain to make up for everyone's losses. Anyway, the Qin family is in Carp Village, so I doubt they'll dare to go back on their word!"
Given the Qin family's greedy nature, making them hand over their assets would probably be more painful than killing them.
Su Xiaoning's words made sense, and after considering it, the villagers agreed and loosened the ropes binding Qin Sang and the others.
Qin Sang returned to the Qin family home in a disheveled state with her two children. Under the supervision of the villagers, she took out the Qin family's account books and allowed the villagers to move all the valuables, cash, and grain from the Qin family's house and granary.
The villagers were overjoyed to receive their share and discussed holding a banquet on the second night.
Su Xiaoning was also happy for the villagers. She pulled Su Qingcai along, her eyes crinkling with laughter, "There's an event tomorrow, so stay a little longer and join us for the banquet!"
Su Qingcai recalled the assassin who had appeared today. He hesitated for a moment, intending to refuse, but suddenly a thought flashed through his mind, and he remembered something.
This woman always seems to have good luck; not a single one of those silver needles hit her. Now that the enemy is in the shadows while they are in the open, they might as well pretend to be relaxed and attend the banquet to lure the enemy in. Judging by Su Xiaoning's luck, they should be fine.
Having made up his mind, Su Qingcai nodded to Su Xiaoning.
Su Xiaoning didn't notice Su Qingcai's strange behavior. She grinned at Su Qingcai, her bright eyes and white teeth making Su Qingcai's heart flutter.
...
The following evening.
The villagers held a banquet on the beach, singing and dancing, having a wonderful time.
Su Xiaoning squatted in front of the fire, grilling fish. The fragrant aroma wafted over, and Su Qingcai, who was not far away, couldn't sit still any longer and silently walked over to her side.
Turning her head to look at Su Qingcai, who was silently staring intently at the grilled fish over the fire, Su Xiaoning couldn't help but laugh and teased, "If you want to eat, just say so. Why be so polite between us siblings?"
As she spoke, she handed the grilled fish skewers to Su Qingcai.
Su Qingcai didn't stand on ceremony and took the grilled fish to eat.
His status is what it is; his manners and etiquette are ingrained in his bones. Even when eating grilled fish, the way he tears the fish is incredibly elegant, as if he were treating it as some kind of delicacy.
Su Xiaoning tilted her head and looked at Su Qingcai, who was chewing slowly, and was momentarily lost in thought.
The banquet was bustling with noise when suddenly a barely perceptible sound of footsteps came from the surrounding grove of trees, and a few cold glints flashed in the darkness.
The person took the bait!
Even while eating fish, Su Qingcai remained vigilant and grabbed Su Xiaoning, narrowly dodging several flying silver needles.
He looked closely and saw that the assassin had already revealed himself in the grove of trees not far away. In a panic, he suddenly threw Su Xiaoning out of his hand!
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